1. Field of the Invention
The present application claims priority of the corresponding Republic of China patent application no. 096217574, which was filed on Oct. 19, 2007 by the Intellectual Property Office under the Ministry of Economic Affairs of the Republic of China.
The present invention relates to a standing pipe faucet assembly, comprised of a faucet body and a separate body. The separate body contains a lateral hole groove through the side, and a chamber in its upper portion that holds a slantwise threaded hole attached to a mixing valve. A bolt screwed into the slantwise threaded hole will generate a backward push against a tube that is connected to the rear end of an outlet pipe inserted into the separate body's lateral hole groove. As the bolt penetrates deeper into the tube, it pushes the tube back further and fixes the outlet pipe and the faucet body together. A water outlet through the tube at the rear end of the outlet pipe completes the assembly. The assembly eliminates the need for the traditional welding fixation technique.
2. Description of the Related Art
Traditionally, in the manufacture of a standing pipe faucet assembly, the faucet body assembly includes a solid copper pillar and a separate body. The solid copper pillar is used for turning the structure of a chamber to accommodate a water mixing valve, and a separate body contains a hot and cold inlet water pipe. In addition, a water outlet pipe is connected laterally to the separate body through a drill hole. Finally, the water mixing valve is installed in the faucet body; the top of the valve includes a handle for controlling the ratio of cold and hot water as well as the flow rate.
The quality of a faucet body manufactured by a solid copper pillar is better than those manufactured by a traditional sand casting process, but the international copper price is very high, thus increasing the overall material cost. Furthermore, a large quantity of waste materials are produced during the manufacturing of the copper pillar, adding to the overall material cost. Such a standing pipe faucet does not comply with the cost-effective requirements of the industry and requires improvements.
The inventors of U.S. Pat. No. 7,198,064 B1 have provided a standing pipe faucet assembly in which a faucet body is slightly shaped by using a copper pipe assembled together with a separate body. A chamber is placed at the bottom portion of the separate body, where a water mixing valve is installed. A lateral hole groove on the lower portion of the separate body lines up with a through hole and outlet pipe on the faucet body. An inlet pipe interconnects the water mixing valve and an outlet pipe passing through the lateral hole groove.
Since the faucet body of the foregoing standing pipe faucet assembly is slightly shaped by using the copper pipe, it does not have enough thickness to place related structures, such as threads, to connect the outlet pipe. Therefore, the faucet body and the outlet pipe need to be welded together, creating an unappealing welding mark, and thus decreasing the overall aesthetic quality of the standing pipe faucet assembly. Moreover, the welding quality is dependent on techniques and experiences of the workers, whose work will not maintain the same quality every time welding is performed. Such a standing pipe faucet is an imperfect design and requires improvements.